Mask Item Number: A5303 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
Description
Carved wooden, crooked beak headdress, or mask. The beak has red tear shaped nostrils with detailed white s-forms and a central frill that curves inward to the centre tip of the beak. The mouth is red, flat and protruding; bottom part of jaw is hinged with rectangular pieces of leather. The face is black with white detailing. The eyes are black outlined in white and red on a white, ovoid shaped ground; brow is black. The inside of the mask is hollow with the exception of a piece twisted twine through the lower beak. Attached to the top are short, bundles of cedar stripes. There is a small tuft of eagle down in the cedar. The mask is painted black, white and red with Northwest Coast stylized forms.
History Of Use
Worn by female attendant, hiligaxste', in taming Hamats!a dancer. The masks are worn on the forehead, and the wearer's body is hidden by a covering of shredded cedar bark, giving the dancer a distinctive bird-like appearance. The dance is a special hopping step and they have a unique "hop" cry.
Iconographic Meaning
Crooked Beak of Heaven, Galugwadze, one servant of Cannibal at the North End of the World, Baxbakwalanuksiwe'.
Cultural Context
ceremonial
Item History
- Made in British Columbia, Canada
- Owned by Walter C. Koerner before 1972
- Received from Walter C. Koerner (Donor) during 1972
What
- Name
- Mask
- Identification Number
- A5303
- Type of Item
- mask
- Material
- cedar bark, wood, paint, fibre, metal, leather skin and eagle down feather
- Manufacturing Technique
- carved and painted
- Overall
- height 28.1 cm, width 27.6 cm, depth 54.4 cm
Who
- Culture
- Kwakwaka'wakw
- Previous Owner
- Walter C. Koerner
- Received from
- Walter C. Koerner (Donor)
Where
- Holding Institution
- MOA: University of British Columbia
- Made in
- British Columbia, Canada
When
- Ownership Date
- before 1972
- Acquisition Date
- during 1972
Other
- Condition
- good
- Accession Number
- 0160/0054